Once upon a time in London
by parttimeficwriter
Summary: Written in response to Isa's spring fic challenge on the spooks forum. Pretty fluffy and H/R


**My response to Isa's spring fic challenge. I think I just about managed to squeeze everything in! **

**Thanks to my lovely pea assistants Emma and Helen :-)**

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"Harry, it's me, Ruth."

"Ruth?"

"Yes."

"What time is it?"

"Late. Sorry to call at this hour, but..."

"Are you alright?"

She smiled at the concern in his voice. "Me? Yes, I'm fine, thanks."

"Well, that's...that's good."

"Harry, I was wondering...I was wondering if perhaps you could come over..."

"Come over?"

"Yes."

"To your place?"

"Yes."

"Is this some sort of bizarre déj�-vu I'm experiencing? Am I going to come over to find an irritating journalist wandering about your kitchen and calling you Ruthie?"

"No, not this time. There's no-one here but me Harry."

He let her words sink in and allowed a small surge of hope to rush through him before he spoke again. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

---

He had had an inkling at the time but nothing had prepared him for how much those words would change his life. A change for the better he happily added, as he looked down into her expressive eyes and cupped her soft cheek with his free hand. Her happy smile as she snuggled closer to him made his heart constrict and he was powerless to resist brushing a sweet kiss across her forehead.

"Then what happened Daddy? You promised to tell me a story before bed time." Her little pout was not lost on him and he rolled his eyes at the ease with which she had him wrapped around her finger as he carried on with the story. 

"The handsome Prince kept his promise and knocked on the Princesses door..."

---

True to his word, ten minutes later a suddenly nervous Ruth heard the front gate open, followed by the sound of his even footsteps as he walked briskly up the garden path. She opened the door just as he raised his hand to knock, a shy smile flashing across her features as she took in his slightly startled appearance. 

"Hi," she whispered into the night, before taking a step back from the door.

He stepped over the threshold at her implied invitation and stood in the hallway self consciously as she closed the door behind him. "Hi, erm..."

She watched as he shuffled about, seemingly unsure of what he was supposed to do, and realised that he was waiting for her to take the lead. "Oh, um, sorry. Drink?"

He nodded, and she brushed against him lightly as she pushed past him in the narrow hallway and lead the way to the kitchen. He leant himself against the cupboards and watched, half-amused, half-concerned, as she flitted around the kitchen nervously. He had to smile as she fumbled with the ice tray, mumbling what he assumed were expletives under her breath until the ice plopped into the waiting tumblers. She poured them both a generous measure, the ice still cracking and popping as she handed him his glass and their fingertips brushed, briefly. 

The spark of electricity that he felt was enough to draw him out of the nervous silence they had settled into. "Ruth..."

Her eyes slipped shut as his voice caressed her name, an action that was not lost on Harry. She was unsurprised to find his amber-flecked, soulful eyes trained on her as her eyelids fluttered open again. Her hand trembled slightly as she raised the glass to her mouth and took a large sip of the smoky tasting liquid.

She gazed at him over the rim of the thick, heavy-set glass as she spoke. "I love the way you say my name, did you know that?"

Harry felt his pulse quicken at her words and wondered if, after all this time, now was the moment for _that_ conversation. "No, I didn't know that..." he paused and smiled flirtatiously, "Ruth."

She put her drink down on the counter top and turned to focus on him, for once deciding not to hide behind anything else. "It was one of the things I missed most – the sound of your voice." Her voice was quiet but earnest as she admitted it to him. He stayed silent, sensing that there was more to come. "I've been back almost two months now, Harry..."

"Six weeks and four days." 

She smiled at his startled face to let him know she hadn't minded the interruption. "Six weeks and four days," she conceded, "and yet, you still haven't asked me out to dinner."

His hand gripped the glass in his hand and he drank the contents down swiftly and used the few moments it afforded him to ponder how best to respond to that. 

"I wanted to. I really wanted to," he admitted, truthfully, "but I was worried that after everything , you'd have had enough of being talked about and I couldn't put you through that again."

His gaze dipped and he was suddenly fascinated with the tiled pattern of her kitchen floor. He hated being open and vulnerable at the best of times but with Ruth everything felt more raw and dangerous.

"I was afraid that was the reason," she whispered, making him look up and see that she was closing the gap between them. "I don't care about any of that anymore Harry. I want to go out for dinner with you. I want to kiss you, to make you laugh and to hold your hand. I want to make love with you, to wake up with you. I want to love you, Harry and bugger what the rest of Thames House, or anyone else for that matter, thinks."

By the time she had finished her little speech she was stood in front of him, chest heaving and wondering if perhaps her outburst had been a tad over the top. When he didn't immediately respond, she panicked and babbled an apology. "Sorry, that sounded much less desperate in my head."

He cupped her cheek and allowed a warm smile to spread across his face. "I don't think it sounded desperate at all, Ruth, I was just wondering if you had a preference of order?"

His gaze was hypnotic and she couldn't have torn her eyes from his if she'd have wanted to. "Well, there is one thing on the top of my list..."

"What's that?" His whisper tickled her lips and, without conscious thought, the tip of her tongue flicked out over her lips, moistening them slightly before she pressed her mouth against his and kissed him.

---

Harry looked down at the little girl now sleeping soundly against his chest and smiled. He carefully edged himself off the chair they had been sat in together and carried his precious bundle over to her bed, sliding her small body under the sheets and then making sure she was tucked in properly. 

"Sweet dreams, Little One," he whispered, and kissed her cheek softly.

He stood and turned to leave only to find a very familiar woman leaning against the door frame. He wasn't certain how long she had been watching but he guessed that she had been there some time.

"What happened next?" she asked, voice hushed but he could here the teasing edge to it all the same and raised his eyebrow at her. "Come on Harry, finish the story."

"I'd have thought you would remember, Ruth."

"Perhaps I'd like to be reminded," she countered and she smiled as he pressed against her, forcing her to step onto the darkened landing. She was unsurprised to find her back pressed against the hall wall a few steps later and she tried not to look too happy when he pinned her to it with his warm body and kissed her.

"The...story..." she mumbled, as he sucked on her bottom lip.

"You're insufferable woman," he growled and rested his forehead against hers, deciding to keep her trapped where she was for the moment. "Well, I seem to recall that I was a total gentleman and that you kept trying to seduce me."

"Worked though didn't it?" she teased as she stole a quick kiss.

"You're absolutely shameless, Mrs Pearce."

"Absolutely..." she agreed, reaching up and loosening his tie in order to reach the buttons underneath and flick them open. She had made it to the fourth button, lips pressed against his warm, newly exposed skin when the doorbell went.

He chuckled at her groan of protest and caught her small, wandering hands in his larger ones to prevent her from opening any more of his shirt buttons. "That will be the baby sitter. Which means this will have to be put on hold for now."

She rolled her eyes and poked her tongue out at him. "Spoil sport!"

She giggled into his kiss as he pinned her back against the wall and kissed her passionately, as she had known he would. He released her from the kiss almost as quickly as he had engaged her in it and pulled her away from the wall and towards the bedroom. "Go and finish getting ready."

The doorbell rang again and he swore and raced down the steps, eager to stop the noise before it woke his daughter up. 

"You can stop leaning on the doorbell now, Connie," he said, as he wrenched the door open and found the older woman stood on the doorstep.

She pushed past him into the house, leaving him to roll his eyes and shut the door behind her. "Sophie's asleep – at least she was." He gave her a slight glare, which was met with a definite 'look' from her. "We, uh, we were just finishing getting ready. Ruth'll be down in a minute."

She raised her eyebrow at him and he tried hard not to squirm under her gaze. "You have lipstick on your collar."

His hand automatically reached up to pull the collar away from his neck so he could look and she smiled triumphantly, "Ah ha! Not quite as innocent as you're making out are you! In fact it reminds me of something similar not too many years ago..."

---

Harry's smile was almost as wide as his face when Ruth finally shuffled into his office. Not wanting to draw attention to the fact that their relationship had changed from professional to personal, they had spent most of the day trying to act 'normal' around one another, which, it turned out, was incredibly hard to do after spending the night making love and talking until the sun came up. It was almost seven o'clock in the evening; Ruth had watched from behind her computer screen as the Grid emptied and became eerily silent and then she had done something she had been thinking of for months, years even. She left her desk and made her way to his office, sliding the door open and stepping inside, venturing in there for no other reason than wanting to see him, to talk to him, to kiss him.

"Hi," she sighed, through a soft smile, and took a couple of steps towards where he was sat.

"Hello." He angled his chair towards her, leaning back and watching her move towards him, knowing he had the most ridiculous grin on his face but not caring.

"You look very happy to see me," she whispered, throatily, and chuckled as he raised an eyebrow at her. 

"That's because I am." He met her half way as she bent down to kiss him, his hand reaching up until his fingers tangled in her hair. She happily opened her mouth as his tongue ran over her bottom lip, leaning down further and pressing her chest against his as he explored her mouth intimately. She kissed him until her body protested at being bent awkwardly for so long, reluctantly parting from his soft lips. 

"Backache," she whispered and grinned at the slight pout that had instantly formed on his lips at her retreat. It was only as she moved to stand properly that she realised she was caught on something and looked down to find Harry's tie pin tangled between the buttons of her blouse. She inched herself round to perch on the edge of his desk, stifling her laugh at his forced choking sound as she effectively dragged him with her. Mischievously, she held his gaze as her fingers toyed with the buttons on her shirt, flicking the top ones open and moving lower. 

He stood, unexpectedly, and pushed her further onto the desk, nudging her legs apart so that he was stood in between them before covering her fidgeting hands with his. "Allow me."

Her chest heaved and he could make out the lace of her bra with each rise of her chest as his fingers slipped between the folds of her shirt and slipped the small plastic disc from its cotton confine. She gasped as his fingers brushed against the swell of her right breast, eyes automatically closing so that she could savour the sensation.

"Well, thank heavens for that. I was beginning to think you two would never get your act together!"

Ruth felt Harry freeze in the same instant that her eyes popped open and her head swivelled towards his office door where Connie was stood with an amused expression on her face.

"I came to tell you that Adam's report came through and he's made the initial contact with Duffy, but that can wait until tomorrow."

"My tie got caught. In her blouse." Even as he spoke, he had no idea why he was attempting to explain. It sounded completely ridiculous and he was embarrassed at having spoken at all.

"Ah, I understand. Tricky little buggers really, I'll leave you two to get untangled then..." she could barely contain her amusement as she spoke and saw the matching looks of embarrassment the couple were sporting. "By the way Harry that shade of lipstick really is perfect for you."

His hand automatically reached up to his face and made to wipe off the offending make-up only to realise a split second too late that she was playing him. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

---

Harry shuffled his feet and cleared his throat as the memories of that evening came flooding into his mind. He caught Connie's knowing look and was thankful to Ruth for choosing that moment to walk in.

"Hi Connie," she smiled warmly at the older woman and moved to Harry's side. She reached for his tie and eased it from his shirt collar, having decided that she liked the open collar look better on him that evening. 

"Ready to go?" he asked when she was finished and was pleased to see her nod.

"Going anywhere nice?" 

"Somewhere we can't be interrupted," Harry mumbled under his breath at the same time as Ruth answered that they were going for dinner in the hotel where their wedding reception had been held. If Connie heard him, she didn't show it but Ruth certainly did and felt her stomach flutter in response. 

She was trying to work out what, if anything, his mumbled words had meant as they sat pressed close together in the back seat of the car. His hand covered hers, their fingers entwining automatically as he rested his head against hers and asked what she was thinking.

"Just wondering what you're up to," she admitted, honestly, with a slight twist of her neck so she could see his face.

"You'll see." His voice purred in her ear and the hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention at the sound of it.

The car came to a stop before she could ask any more questions and, as they walked inside, hand in hand, she decided to humour him and followed his lead obediently. She shot him a half-suspicious, half-confused look when he led them to the lift and escorted her inside it, pushing the button for the top floor and smiling at her as he did so. By the time the lift pinged and the doors opened, she had an inkling of what was going on and smiled at him lovingly.

He opened the door to the suite, holding it open for her to go in first, his eyes glittering in the low light as he stood in the doorway. Her fingers brushed against those of his free hand as she brushed past him and took in the sight of the rose petals scattered over the large bed and the bottle of chilled champagne in a stand to the side of it.

"I love you." Her eyes fluttered closed at his soft spoken words and she allowed herself to relax into his embrace as he came up behind her and encircled her in his arms. "I thought I should remind you just how much. No interruptions, just us."

"I like the sound of that," she murmured huskily as his soft, full lips moved against the sensitive skin of her neck. "Although, I'm yours no matter how often we get interrupted Harry. You're worth the wait."

"I'll make sure I am." She felt the words vibrate through her skin as he pressed his mouth to the underside of her jaw and busied his hands with lowering the zip of her dress. As the dress hit the floor and he took her in his arms, fully, she had no doubt that he would.

�

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